Reborn as a eunuch, the system tells me to seduce the empress?

Chen San held the completed list of confiscated property in his hands, growing increasingly alarmed as he read it. He dared not delay, immediately mounting his horse and personally delivering the list to the Eastern Depot's office.

When Chen San brought the confiscated valuables back to the Eastern Depot and handed them over to Lin Mo,

But Lin Mo, the head of the Eastern Depot, seemed completely unconcerned about these bills of money.

"Governor, what should we do with so much money? These valuables are worth approximately four million taels of silver."

Lin Mo placed the list on the table, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly chuckled.

"In all these years that I have served as the head of the Eastern Depot, I have confiscated the property of at least eighty or a hundred families."

Lin Mo picked up his teacup, took a sip, and slowly said, "I've seen plenty of corrupt officials, but I've never seen anyone like Liu Kaishan who could amass three million in assets from two families."

"A hereditary earl's annual stipend is only eight hundred bushels of rice, equivalent to four hundred taels of silver. Even if he saved every penny from birth, he couldn't accumulate a fraction of that amount."

He put down his teacup and his gaze fell on Chen San.

"Prepare the cash for this confiscation. You will accompany me to the palace tomorrow."

"Yes, Commander!" Chen San clasped his hands in acceptance, then asked, "Should we also submit the list of confiscated property from Sun Zhengming's side?"

"No need," Lin Mo shook his head and said, "Let's keep the money confiscated from Sun Zhengming's house!"

Chen San responded and was about to leave when Lin Mo called him back.

"Has Liu Kaishan confessed?"

"Reporting to the Grand Eunuch, Liu Kaishan is very stubborn and keeps clamoring to meet the Emperor. His eldest son, Liu Shijie, is a coward, though. He started to collapse after being whipped a few times."

"Have Liu Shijie write a confession, and then show it to his father." Lin Mo's voice was calm: "Liu Kaishan isn't worried about the family fortune; let him see how his son will reveal all these things one by one."

Chen San accepted the order and withdrew.

The next morning, Lin Mo changed into a brand new black robe, with an embroidered spring knife hanging at his waist. Carrying the list of confiscated property from the Liu family and the secret letters between Liu Kaishan and the Tatar tribe, he rode into the palace.

In the Imperial Study, Yu Qingli had just finished the morning court session and hadn't had time to change out of her court robes.

She sat behind the dragon desk, with a pile of memorials half a foot high in front of her, a faint weariness between her brows.

Seeing Lin Mo enter and kneel to pay his respects, she slightly raised her hand, signaling him to stand up.

"Your Majesty," Lin Mo stood up, took out a sandalwood box from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands: "I have verified the case of Liu Kaishan, the Earl of Yongchang, colluding with the enemy and selling his title. This is a secret letter between Liu Kaishan and the Mongol Tatar tribes, as well as a list of confiscated property. Please take a look, Your Majesty."

Yu Qingli took the wooden box and opened it.

The yellowed letters exuded a musty smell of old paper. She flipped through them one by one, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

When she saw the cryptic details about smuggled ironware and the exchange of warhorses, her fingers paused almost imperceptibly before continuing to scroll down.

Then she turned to the list of confiscated property.

Yu Qingli's gaze fell on the list, initially just a casual glance, then her pupils slowly dilated.

She looked at the list again from beginning to end, then turned it over to check the back, and after confirming that she hadn't misread it, she slowly raised her head.

"Three million taels?" Yu Qingli's sharp voice rang out in the imperial study.

"Lin Mo, are you sure all the silver above was confiscated from the Yongchang Marquis's house?" Yu Qingli's voice remained as calm and restrained as an emperor's, but Lin Mo could hear that a string in her voice was being pulled tight.

"Your Majesty, I dare not report falsely," Lin Mo said earnestly, bowing his head. "These valuables were all confiscated from the Liu residence."

"In addition, the Yongchang Earl's Mansion also owns seventeen shops, six residences, 1,800 mu of fertile land outside the city, and three warehouses at Tongzhou Wharf, worth about 1.4 million taels of silver. The three items combined amount to about 3 million taels of silver."

Yu Qingli fell silent.

"Three million taels," Yu Qingli murmured to herself, her words filled with disbelief.

"Since I ascended the throne, the Ministry of Revenue has reported to me that the national treasury has a surplus of 1.2 million taels of silver. A few days ago, the three northern prefectures suffered from drought. I wanted to allocate 200,000 taels for disaster relief. The Minister of Revenue knelt before me for half an hour and said that the national treasury was empty and he could not come up with so much silver. In the end, I reduced the palace expenses and dismissed a number of redundant officials to raise 150,000 taels to send to the disaster area."

She slowly walked back to the imperial desk and gently tapped the list of confiscated property with her fingers: "And the result? The Yongchang Marquis's residence alone had three million taels of silver, which is more than twice the size of my national treasury."

Lin Mo knelt on the ground with his head bowed, without saying a word.

He knew that he didn't need to say anything at this moment; the Empress only needed a listener.

"When I ascended the throne, my Grand Tutor taught me that a ruler should prioritize the well-being of the nation and the people. I have taken this to heart. Every day I rise before dawn to review memorials and continue to meet with ministers late into the night to discuss state affairs. I dare not call myself a wise ruler, but at least I have been diligent and conscientious, and I have a clear conscience."

Yu Qingli's voice gradually lowered, as if she were talking to herself: "But I only realized now that the money I saved by carefully budgeting in the palace is not even as much as a small fraction of what a count's mansion has hidden away."

She raised her head, her gaze sharp as a knife: "Lin Mo, tell me, just how many people like Liu Kaishan are left in the Great Liang Dynasty?"

Lin Mo raised his head and met the Empress's gaze.

A fire burned in those phoenix eyes, a mixture of disappointment and extreme anger at being betrayed.

From a young age, she was taught to treat people with kindness and to be compassionate and loving towards them.

But what a result!

These court officials and military officers, who claimed to speak out for the people and not to oppress them, were secretly committing all sorts of crimes, including smuggling and treason.

Isn't this a slap in the face to the emperor?

Lin Mo looked at Yu Qingli, whose face was full of anger, and said softly, "Your Majesty, you cannot use all four million taels of silver to fill the hole in the national treasury."

Lin Mo's voice was calm and frank.

"The hole in the national treasury can never be filled. Today we fill the deficit for disaster relief, tomorrow there will be outstanding military pay, and the day after tomorrow there will be a shortfall for river works. If Your Majesty were to put all this silver into the national treasury, in less than three months, the Minister of Revenue would be kneeling before Your Majesty, crying poverty."

Yu Qingli did not respond, but she also did not get angry.

She sat back down behind the desk, tapping lightly on the list of confiscated property, signaling Lin Mo to continue.

"Your Majesty, I dare to suggest," Lin Mo said, taking another document from his sleeve and presenting it with both hands. "The proceeds from the confiscation of Sun Zhengming's property amount to approximately five or six hundred thousand taels of silver. This money need not be reported to the palace for accounting purposes; it should be kept directly in the Eastern Depot as operating expenses. The Eastern Depot has over two thousand agents, spies, clerks, and jailers, each receiving only three and a half taels of silver per month. If Your Majesty wishes to sharpen this knife, you must at least ensure that the hand holding it does not tremble."

Yu Qingli flipped through the folded document, her expression unreadable: "You're quite frank. I haven't even seen Sun Zhengming's money yet, and you've already intercepted it?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. I have already had my men compile a register of the Sun family's silver. If Your Majesty wishes to use it, I will send it to the palace tomorrow. However, I believe that these five or six hundred thousand taels would be more useful to Your Majesty if they were kept in the Eastern Depot than in the national treasury. I can use this silver to plant many spies in the Six Ministries, the Nine Ministers, the military garrisons, and various prefectures and counties, so that Your Majesty's ears will be more alert to any disturbances."